John o donnell



J. ODONNE-LL STREET BRIDGE.

No. 354,652. Patented Dec. 21, 1886.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

IH 'HH /U M ofiififig Q I BY MM :2.

ATTORNEYS.

N. PETERS. wmoumo n tmr. Washington. 174 c.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. ODONNELL.

STREET BRIDGE.

mm S 8 m H 1 v o a e D d H e n DU lu a P S M M 3 mh I Q W 0 N 1 NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JOHN ODONNELL, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

STREET- BRIDGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 354,652, dated December 21, 1886.

Application filed April 28, 1886.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN ODONNELL, of Albany, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Street-Bridges, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the annexed drawings, formingapartthereof, in 'which-- Figure 1 is a plan view. Fig. 2 is aside elevation, partly in section. Fig. 3 is atransverse section taken on line as w in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view, partly in section, of one of the floor-sections.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures of the drawings.

The object of my invention is to constructa bridge for bridging streets from curb to curb, to permit of excavating the street without disturbing traffic.

My invention consists of a bridge formed of a series of girders rabbeted on opposite edges, adapted to abut at opposite ends against the curbs at the side of the street, and provided with rollers at their ends, which rest on the sidewalk and permit of moving the girders laterally along the street, and in the combination, with the girders, of corrugated floor-sections fitted to the rabbets of the girders and halved together to form tight joints, all as hereinafter more fully described.

The girders A, which are preferably rolled from wrought-iron or steel, are provided with rabbets a in their upper surfaces, at opposite edges, which are of sufficient depth to receive the floor-sections to be supported by the girders. The under surface of each girder is preferably made convex, except at the ends, to facilitate their lateral movement along the street, in the manner presently to be described. The ends of the girders are left square, to afford a suitable surface for abutment against the curbs at opposite sides of the street.

The girders are curved so as tohave about the same convexity as the street-surface, and are provided at opposite ends with axles b, for receiving small wheels or rollers c, which rest upon the edge of the sidewalk adjoining the curb, and facilitate the movement of the gird- 5o ers laterally in the direction of the length of the street or of the entire bridge-section.

Between the girders are fitted floor sec- Serial No. 200,487. (No model.)

tions B '0, which are preferably rounded or transversely corrugated on their upper surfaces,and are about equal in thickness to the depth of the rabbets in the edges of the girders. The edge of one floor-section is rabbeted to overlap the rabbeted portion of the'adjacent floor-section, to form an approximately tight joint between the sections, the ends being bolted to the girders. The end sections, 0, are provided along their outer edges with ledges e, to form a gutter.

My improved bridge is designed especially for application to streets to be tunneled or ex cavated, and it is applied to the street by 10- cating a series of girders, A, at right angles with the street, withtheir ends abutting upon the curbs at opposite sides of the street, the distance between the several girders being suf- 7o ficient to permit of placing the floor-sections B C in position in the rabbets.

An approach to the bridge from the pavement is formed by means of planks or earth, or in any other suitable way, and after the work in one section of the street is finished the bridge is moved along bodily; or it may be taken apart and moved in sections. The bridge may be indefinitely broadened by adding new sections.

When the bridge is completed over a street, it will allow carriages and cars to travel thereon, and will permit of all kinds of traffic, as upon an ordinary street. At the same time it permits of excavating-the road-bed below and 8 affords ample room for the employment of the necessary machinery used in tunneling and in other work under the surface of the road. These bridges may also be used for repairing after the tunneling of the road is finished; or they may, if desirable, be used as a permanent roadway.

The transverse corrugations of the sections .B 0 permit the water to run away to the side of the street. They also strengthen the sec-' tions and give the animals traveling thereon a firm foothold.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a street-bridge, the combination of girders curved to conform to the street-surface, and arranged to abut against the curbs on opposite sides of the street, and floor-plates received on and supported by the girders, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. The combination, in a street-bridge, of curved rabbeted girders A and floor-plates B 0, received in the rabbets of the girders, substantially as herein shown and described.

3. In a street-bridge, the combination of the girders A, rabbeted on opposite edges, and the corrugated floor-plates B 0, received in the rabbets and halved together, substantially as herein shown and described.

4. In a street-bridge, the combination of the curved girders A, rabbeted in opposite edges thereof, and provided at opposite ends with axles b, to facilitate the lateral movement of the girders, substantially as herein shown and described.

5. The combination, in a street-bridge, ofthe girders A, having rabbetsa in opposite edges thereof and provided with axles b, the rollers a, fitted to the axles,and the corrugated floorsections B 0, received in the rabbets and halved together, substantially as herein shown 4 axles,and the corrugated floor-sections B C, re-

ceived in the rabbets and halved together, substantially as herein shown and described.

JOHN ODONNELL. Witnesses:

JOHN D. KERNAN, WM. E. ROGERS. 

